-Hello. -Hi. Welcome back.
-It's great to be back. I'm over on the couch.
-I know. Last time you were here, you did stand-up.
-I did which, you know, is an indignity, in some senses.
-Like, what do you -- -Well, you know to come out
and go, "Eh, laugh." You know, that sort of thing.
It's scary, Jimmy, you know.
-Yeah, but it's fun. You were great.
-Oh, no, I mean, I was -- Yes, I was absolutely fantastic.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I love doing stand-up here. And I love --
-Did you always know that you wanted to do stand-up?
-Oh. Um... -Because I think that
this little girl... -Acting -- yeah.
-...wanted to be an actress, I feel like.
Look at this. That's a little head shot there.
Now, what was -- -Oh, my God.
I just want to say that, what happened to me last time here
was kind of interesting. -Oh, what?
-Because I came out,
and we practiced the set all around town.
It was four minutes. They were, like,
"4 1/2 minutes tops," you know, and I, like,
tried it out, the whole thing.
And then I got here, and I came out,
and I couldn't tell if the crowd was, like, feeling me.
So I was like -- I kinda needed to work with them.
And so it ended up being like 6 1/2 minutes.
-Why was it 6 1/2 minutes? -Because I added a few spins.
[ Light laughter ]
-I do remember you added a couple spins.
-Yeah, just like...
[ Cheers and applause ]
I mean -- You know what I mean?
-That's your move.
-Yeah, and I felt like it made everyone more comfortable.
I don't know, 'cause it's, -- You know, it's scary,
'cause, like, even though they can't see --
the audience, you know,
they know they're on film even though they're not.
They feel -- They're performing.
[ Laughter ]
-The audience is performing? -Yeah, like, that was...
-Them performing. -Absolutely.
And, like, I thought it was beautiful.
[ Laughter ] -I think they did a great job.
Yeah, I mean, should we all get up and do one twirl?
[ Cheers and applause ] Let's do it.
Do you want me to get the lights up?
Let's all do it. It's gonna feel good.
On the count of three, ready? [ Cheers and applause ]
One, two, three!
♪♪
Oh, my gosh. Fantastic.
Happy New Year, everybody! Happy 2020!
Happy New Year. Happy 2020.
Pal -- -Yes, I, um...
-You are the best. -The commercial --
The commercial was not where I got my
artistic sort of satisfaction.
It was more at, you know, the elementary school,
the talent shows, et cetera.
-What were you into? -"Les Mis," primarily.
That was -- [ Cheers ]
Yes. It was huge.
It was huge for the nation, but it was huge for me.
My greatest moment still... was probably my performance
of little Gavroche in the second grade.
A couple of my friends said, "Hey, we're all doing 'Annie.'
We're all doing a 'Hard Knock Life,' you know."
-That's good. -"Let's all play the orphans."
And I just -- it was awkward, but I had to say, "No, no, no.
I'm gonna enlist my dad to play the piano,
and I'm doing a little Gavroche solo."
[ Light laughter ]
-You broke out solo? -People always --
No, they want to make you part of the chorus when...
-And you were ready to be a star.
-Yeah, I knew I was.
-You know what's funny? -Yeah.
-We actually got footage of you performing.
-Well, that's very sneaky. [ Laughter ]
Okay? -Because we talked to your dad.
We really do. I want to show everyone.
Here's Jacqueline in her second grade talent show.
This is real. Take a look at this.
♪♪
-♪ How do you do? My name's Gavroche ♪
♪ These are my people, here's my patch ♪
♪ Not much to look at, nothing posh ♪
♪ Nothing that you'd call up to scratch ♪
[ Cheers and applause ] -"How do you do?"
♪ How do you do ♪
It's an entrance. I'm so proud of it.
-And now -- -And, obviously, now look at us.
-Look at you now. But now you're off-Broadway.
-Yes. -I mean, man, the reviews
for your show is unbelievable. -Really?
-Let me tell you a little something about
"Get On Your Knees."
"New York Times" Critics Pick on their Best of Theater 2019.
"Time Out New York" -- "Novak's winning show
does what the best comedy can do.
It changes the conversation." -[ Screams ]
-"New York Magazine" -- "Clearly her master work."
-[ Screams ] -"Vanity Fair" --
"'Get On Your Knees' solidifies her place
as a comedic powerhouse.
The rest of the world just needs to catch up."
-Oh, my -- -Bang!
[ Cheers and applause ] Can you explain what the show --
-In theory, it's about blowjobs.
-Okay. [ Laughter ]
-In theory, okay. -And they gasp as though,
you know, it's a certain kind of show.
But truly it's very highbrow, it's very literary.
You know, it's spiritual. Some people say, you know,
because they see the title and they go,
"Oh. Oh, I know what it's about."
And I go, "Prayer." You know what I mean?
Just because I don't think that they should assume --
To me, the blowjob, and I'm only gonna say it one more time,
I think, that phrase... -Sure.
-...because I think we get two to three,
and then we're out, right? -Sure, yeah, I think --
[ Laughter ] Yeah.
-But, to me, it's more about the blowjob as a sort of --
Well, I think it can be a rigorous spiritual practice
if you consider it... [ Laughter ]
...as an opportunity to exercise the virtue of humility.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, that's a great sell -- That's a great selling point.
Sure, absolutely.
Has your dad seen the show? -Oh, yeah.
Mom and Dad have seen it. Uncles have seen it.
I actually brought inside my shapewear.
My dad -- [ Laughter ]
My dad -- -Inside your shapewear.
-Yeah, well, you know. -Yeah.
-Some call it lingerie. Why hide?
[ Laughter ]
My dad sent an e-mail to my uncle,
who was coming to the show. They were bringing --
The whole family was coming to the show.
And I didn't know that he sent this until after,
but I feel like it's a good selling point for the show.
-Sure. -So I'm just gonna read it.
-Yep. -This is to my Uncle Mark.
He said -- my dad said, "Hi, Mark.
So great to see you guys got tickets to Jacqueline's show,
'Get On Your Knees.' I wanted to quote, 'warn you.'"
There's a quote. [ Light laughter ]
"I wanted to warn you, as you can tell by the title,
that her show contains strong sexual themes,
is graphic, and highly personal.
As Jacqueline has said herself,
'It is like going to a strip show but even more intimate.'"
[ Laughter ]
"This is material they would never allow
on 'The Tonight Show.'" [ Laughter ]
"It will not be everyone's cup of tea.
Balancing this off, however, is that her show is also witty,
highbrow, and intellectual, as is all of her material."
Do you see the support? Isn't that beautiful?
And then he just said, "That's all.
On a separate subject, are you seeing the Stones?"
[ Laughter ] -That's good.
-I think they were seeing the Stones?
-Were they seeing the Stones? -Yeah.
-They're a great band. -Yeah.
-I got to say, congrats. Everyone that I've run into
that's seen this says it's brilliant.
And how long is it running? It's ending soon?
-No, we just extended it. -You did?
-Yeah. -Yes!
-Thank you. -That's big news!
That's a twirl! I'm twirling.
-Thank you. -Jacqueline Novak.
For more info on her show...
[ Cheers and applause ] ...go to getonyourkneesshow.com.